SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Most of the 50-plus teacher hopefuls who crowded into a small atrium at Clarkson University on a Saturday morning in January to hear a panel discussion about the teaching job market and new licensure requirements shared two traits: They were female. And white. About a third were people of color or males. There was one lone African-American man.
They are the picture of – and the problem with – America’s teacher pipeline.
The percentage of white teacher candidates enrolled in traditional preparation programs is nearly triple that of all other racial and ethnic groups combined, according to figures from the National Center for Education Statistics. Meanwhile, the number of students from minority groups has eclipsed the number of white students in the country’s public schools —creating a demographic mismatch between teachers and the students they serve.
Now some teacher educators worry that two new national tests that teachers must pass before they can be licensed will create another roadblock to diversifying the profession. Known as “performance tests,” they are now required in at least a dozen states and in use by more than 600 teacher preparation programs. They cost more money, take more time, and require the teacher aspirants to do more work — all of which could deter low-income and minority teacher candidates who were already faring worse, on average, on the less rigorous state-administered certification tests.
Read the entire article at The Hechinger Report.
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